CORE’s Educational Services Team works closely and collaboratively with our partner schools and districts. These dedicated individuals provide ongoing instruction, support and guidance to the educators they are partnered with to create capacity for sustainable change. If you’d like to join the CORE team as an Educational Consultant, please visit our Careers page to learn more.
Stacey Abeyta is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Stacey as lived in the Napa Valley for the past twenty years and has worked in many diverse roles during her tenure there. She is currently an Academic Specialist for her district and is also the International Baccalaureate Coordinator for her school site. Prior to taking this role, she had been a classroom teacher, teaching both primary and intermediate grades.
Outside of her district roles, Mrs. Abeyta has presented countless professional learning sessions to pre-service teachers, teachers, and administrators from urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country. Working with teachers in the areas of beginning reading development, best practices in the area of writing, differentiated instruction, meeting the needs of English Learners, and data analysis, are part of her professional learning repertoire since beginning this work in 2002. She has served as a national consultant training the in-school programs of Making Meaning, Being a Writer, SIPPS, and most recently, Being a Reader, for Center for the Collaborative Classroom (formerly Development Studies Center), integrating social emotional learning with academic content.
Stacey received her undergraduate degree and teaching certification at California State University, Fullerton, CA.
Gail Adams is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Gail is a veteran educator with more than 35 years experience in general and special education as a teacher, reading specialist, and program specialist. In addition to working for the Poway Unified School District, Gail has served as an educational consultant for the San Diego County Office of Education and the North County Professional Development Federation. As such, she was a contributing author and trainer for materials developed under two California reading grants. In addition, Gail is a nationally certified trainer for several intervention programs, including Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching, Read Well, Read Naturally and REWARDS. She is co-author of three intervention programs: The Six Minute Solution: A Reading Fluency Program, Words for Academic Writing: Vocabulary Across Curricula, and eSolution: Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension.
Mary Buck is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in administration from the University of Montana and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Montana State University. Ms. Buck has taught mathematics in the middle grades and high school; served as a Curriculum Support Specialist for her district in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction, Division of Mathematics; and was a middle school assistant principal. Ms. Buck has a broad knowledge of core and supplemental mathematics programs, which has helped her when presenting research-based strategies to educators to improve their pedagogic approach when assisting students in the mathematics classroom.
In addition to Ms. Buck’s experience with explicit mathematics instruction and professional development, she currently serves on the board of directors for the Montana Learning Center. She has also served on the board of directors for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and several NCTM committees. She continues to be active in local, state, and national mathematics education. Ms. Buck is deeply committed to education and believes that all children deserve high-quality instruction.
Valerie Byrnes is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Her passion is professional development in mathematics, with the integration of English language arts and technology. Her experiences include teaching first and sixth grades before joining a regional professional development program as a trainer. She earned a master’s degree in curriculum, teaching, and learning along with a mathematics endorsement from the University of Nevada-Reno.
She has worked extensively on the rollout and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, serving as the chairman of the professional development committee for the state of Nevada. She is also currently involved in STEM education and the Next Generation Team for the K–12 Science Framework at the state level.
Ms. Byrnes enjoys collaborating and learning with teachers. She holds a strong belief that students with a solid foundation in both mathematics and literacy will be important to paving the way forward in the twenty-first century.
Patty Copeland is an Educational Services consultant with CORE. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Tarleton State University with an additional specialization in Mathematics. Ms. Copeland holds Texas certifications as a secondary math teacher, as a Math 4-8 Specialist, and as a principal. As well as teaching high school math, she has served as District Math/Science Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, and as a mathematics consultant for her state agency.
Her extensive experience includes providing professional development, technical assistance, and effective leadership to campuses, districts, and charter schools. She has worked at the state and district level aligning national math and Common Core standards, preK-12, and English language proficiency standards with math instruction and assessment. She is actively involved in teacher training, with expertise in the areas of secondary math instruction using technology and sheltered instruction for English learners.
Ms. Copeland has served for several years as Project Director for the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching in her local region. She is a member of NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics), NCSM (Math Ed Leadership), and TASM (Texas Association of Supervisors of Mathematics).
Ms. Copeland has taught and supervised the teaching of mathematics for over 25 years and truly has a passion for it, for teachers, and for students.
Donna Gibson is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Ms. Gibson has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and professional development trainer. During her years in education, she has taught at the elementary level for 10 years, language arts and math at the middle school level for 10 years, and English at the high school level for 13 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Ms. Gibson has spent the last five years working in at-risk schools as a School Improvement Specialist, a Literacy Trainer, and a Literacy Coach. She has a broad knowledge of research-based reading strategies, which she shares with educators to improve their pedagogic approach when moving reluctant/struggling readers to independent/advanced readers.
Ms. Gibson believes that all students can learn and that all students deserve highly effective teachers.
Margaret Goldberg is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. Margaret currently serves as a literacy coach, reading intervention teacher, and Common Core Coach for a Title 1 school in Oakland Unified School District. Margaret designed and is implementing an RtI program for her school that leverages SIPPS and has resulted in as many as three grade levels of reading growth for struggling students this school year. For eight years prior to coaching Margaret was a classroom teacher in the Bay Area, during which time she used Making Meaning, Being a Writer, and Words in Action to build classroom community and to inspire growing readers and writers.
In addition to teaching and coaching, Margaret has done curriculum design work at the Center for the Collaborative Classroom, where she joined the development team for the early-reading program Being a Reader. She is a graduate of the Development Teacher Education master’s program at UC Berkeley.
Lauren Greenberg is a Senior Adolescent Literacy Coordinator with CORE. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown University with a degree in comparative literature, Lauren received her J.D. degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and practiced law for several years prior to teaching English and history at the middle school and high school levels for nine years.
As a CORE Educational Services Specialist since 1998, Lauren has trained thousands of teachers and administrators in proven literacy techniques to help struggling readers in grades K-12. She has supported teachers, administrators, and students in states from Florida to Alaska, and specializes in supporting high-impact schools with large populations of English learners and struggling readers. Lauren has been a contributing writer and developer of many CORE trainings and workshops, and was a contributing author of CORE’s vocabulary curriculum, Word Intelligence. Her particular expertise in vocabulary development across the curriculum extends to work with English learners at all grade levels, and Lauren is a frequent presenter at national literacy conferences. She has provided professional development and executive coaching under the auspices of federally funded IES research grant, at SIG grant schools, at districts chosen to be recipients of private foundation support, and, most recently, in two states participating in a Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant administered by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. Lauren has supported large-scale Word Intelligence implementations including a four-year project involving over 20 secondary schools in Clark County, NV using Word Intelligence as part of their Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant. Finally, Lauren has deep expertise in a wide variety of reading programs and interventions designed to help struggling adolescent readers. She knows that many programs will work well if implemented with fidelity, while almost no program will be effective if poorly implemented. Her goal is to help each school or district implement its chosen programs with fidelity and skill, and to provide teachers and administrators with the deep expertise they need to meet the challenges of today’s students.
Cherise Harrington, M.Ed., is an Educational Services Consultant with the Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education (CORE) and also works as a Professional Development Facilitator for Mathematics instruction with LearnZillion. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration and Supervision which she earned at California State University, Fresno and holds an endorsement in Middle School Mathematics and is CLAD Certified. Cherise has traveled the country delivering professional development as a consultant and facilitator and has written and delivered several PD Modules and Workshops which she has presented at NCTM and Local Math Conferences. She has worked with schools and districts, providing support to Teachers, Site Administrators and Superintendents. Her area of expertise is with math instruction as she has coached many teachers and schools to measurable growth through effective PD followed up by onsite coaching and continued support.
Cherise has designed and delivered professional development in various areas including effective student engagement and checking for understanding, developing, administering and analyzing common formative assessments, and developing a protocol for conducting non-evaluative classroom walkthroughs for administrators and peer teachers. She has a knack for establishing a rapport on campuses which she attributes to building on the strengths of the teaching and administrative teams to develop goals, benchmarks and celebrating successes.
Along with her expertise in math instruction, Cherise has worked with sites to develop and implement effective Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RtI) structures to support differentiated instruction. Cherise has also supported implementing and applying computer adaptive assessment designed to support RtI by providing and analyzing data for teachers and administrators to use in planning instruction and making decisions on designing courses to meet the needs of students.
Cherise’s passion is building capacity within schools. It is her core belief that everyone is doing the best they know how; growth comes in providing enough support in learning new strategies that can help us do even better. Cherise is based in Northern Virginia with her family.
Erick Herrmann is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, with minors in linguistics and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and a master’s degree in teaching from Lewis & Clark College. Mr. Herrmann has taught Spanish at the high school level and Spanish literacy and English as a second language (ESL) at the elementary level, and he has served as a Title VII grant coordinator and Teacher on Special Assignment. As a CORE consultant, Mr. Herrmann has worked in Turnaround and Transformation schools in Colorado, Bureau of Indian Education schools in North Dakota, and districts in Arizona and Washington. Mr. Herrmann has a high degree of expertise in sheltered instruction and meeting the educational needs of English learners, as well as integrating academic language and literacy instruction into the content areas at all grade levels.
Mr. Herrmann is deeply committed to high-quality instruction for all students, and in his presentations he models effective, engaging instructional strategies that teachers can immediately use in their classrooms.
Beverly A. Jagla has been an Educational Services Consultant with CORE since 2003. She holds a Master of Education degree in special education from Central Washington University and received her Superintendent’s Credentials from Seattle Pacific University in 1995. Her teaching experiences include first grade, special education (K–6), gifted and talented (1–6), and over 20 years as an adjunct professor with Central Washington University in its Teacher Education program. She was an elementary principal for 12 years in a K–5 school and an Assistant Superintendent for 11 years, working with curriculum, instruction, and professional development. Bev has also served as an Acting Superintendent.
Bev’s experience with CORE has included work in urban, suburban, and rural settings. She has done site implementation work with reading programs in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Washington. She has delivered specific trainings in reading instruction in California, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. She is totally committed to helping all children develop proficiency in reading and language arts skills.
MaryAnn Jalbert is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education/education of exceptional children K–12 from the Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a K–12 reading specialist endorsement from the University of Alaska, Southeast.
Ms. Jalbert brings 40 years of diverse experience in public education to CORE. She has taught primary age students and students with disabilities in grades K–12; served as a district reading specialist, Title I math/literacy support specialist, and Title I staff development coordinator for a large urban school district in Alaska. She has facilitated professional learning sessions in elementary mathematics and K-12 literacy as an adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska Pacific University, and Portland State University.
MaryAnn joined CORE in 2010 and has worked with educators in urban, suburban, and isolated rural school settings throughout the United States in addition to presenting CORE K-12 Literacy and K-6 Math Workshops.
As a site consultant, MaryAnn’s knowledge of core reading and mathematics programs and intervention resources helps to ensure that achievement improves for all students at the sites that she serves.
Sewellyn Kaplan is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Riverside with a dual major in Spanish and English, and her master’s degree in Learning Disabilities from California State University, East Bay. She also holds an Administrative Credential in the State of California. Between degrees, Ms. Kaplan was a teacher and then the owner of a folk art store (for 13 years), giving her a strong sense of entrepreneurship. In public education, she worked as a high school literacy coach for a large urban school district where she implemented all reading interventions and monitored the implementation of the Response to Intervention strategies. Ms. Kaplan also spent eight years teaching in an alternative high school setting with a focus on reading instruction. During that period, she received numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year, the Humanitarian Award, and the Warren W. Eukel Teacher Trust Award. Lastly, Ms. Kaplan was an Assistant Principal/Instructional Specialist at a large urban high school tasked with implementing all English Language Arts and mathematics curricula and working closely with teachers to improve instruction.
In all roles, she has been instrumental in developing and delivering professional development. Of particular note in education is her experience in both learning differences and very diverse populations of students, enabling her to offer teaching strategies for all populations.
In her career with CORE, she has had the opportunity to work with all grade levels, K-12, in implementing and assessing a wide variety of literacy programs, with an emphasis on supporting access to growth for all students. She has led trainings in vocabulary development, fluency, writing, and reading strategies.
In her numerous roles, Ms. Kaplan has worked closely with both teachers and students to ensure success and a love of learning that will endure a lifetime.
Mr. Michael Kelly is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. He holds a master’s degree in educational administration from California State University, Fresno. Mr. Kelly was a language arts/reading teacher in the Turlock Elementary School District in California for 11 years. He also served 19 years in the Atwater School District in California as an elementary and middle school principal and Director of Special Programs and Special Education.
Mr. Kelly’s experience with CORE spans over ten years, working in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. He has delivered several Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtI) trainings and various literacy and assessment workshops throughout the country. He has done site implementation work in Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, and New Mexico. He has worked extensively with Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools throughout the western United States and in remote village schools in Alaska.
Mr. Kelly’s interest in special education, early and adolescent literacy, executive coaching, and strong reading program implementation translates to a deep commitment to the success of each and every child learning to read
Ann Leon is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. In addition to 20 years of elementary teaching experience that began in 1980, she spent the following 17 years in the roles of intervention teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, BTSA (beginning teacher) support provider, assistant principal, and literacy consultant.
Mrs. Leon has presented countless professional learning sessions to pre-service teachers, teachers, para-professionals, and administrators from urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country. Working with teachers in the areas of beginning reading development, RtII, MTSS, meeting the needs of English Learners, and data analysis are part of her on-going commitment since 2000.
In the pursuit of her own ongoing learning, Mrs. Leon had the privilege to learn from and work closely with the late John Shefelbine, lead author of SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, & Sight Words, © 2001, 2007, 2014) from 2000 to 2016. Her own growth and dedication evolved into supporting principals and teachers in professional learning – making instructional shifts toward powerful reading instruction by identifying and using Scientifically-Based Reading Research methods and programs, deepening teacher knowledge in their current practice, and utilizing a lesson study approach in working with students to support teachers.
Mrs. Leon’s continued commitment to reading acquisition and instruction all point toward having an impact on teachers’ instructional practice and the belief that all teachers can teach all children to read.
Nancy McGivney is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She has taught for over 18 years. She has a wealth of experience working with struggling students and English learners, having taught intervention summer programs for years. As the assessment mentor, she has led her schools in using assessment results to guide reading and math instruction for student progress and school improvement.
Ms. McGivney’s experience with CORE includes working in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. She has served as a site consultant for schools ranging from an inner city school in Honolulu, Hawaii, to very rural schools on other islands in Hawaii, to remote schools in Alaska. She also has served as a consultant in literacy and math for rural Bureau of Indian Affairs schools through initial implementation and then refinement over subsequent years. Her interest in reading and math improvement for all students and in particular for English learners translates to a deep commitment to the success of each and every child.
Lois Mendoza is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in Instruction and Leadership, an Administrative Services credential, and a Reading Specialist credential. For 26 years, Lois taught in the classroom and served as a reading coach, mentor for LAUSD literacy coaches, reading program consultant, and literacy trainer in urban and rural districts across the state of California. She provided support through district-wide and site-based professional development on research-based English Language Arts strategies for administrators, coaches, teachers, and paraprofessionals. Other forms of support included providing leadership to superintendents and principals through classroom observations, debriefing with the instructional leadership teams, and facilitating Instructional Rounds.
Her current work is training teachers to become educated about and focused on moving students toward proficiency on the Common Core State Standards. Working with Achieve on the EQuIP Peer Review Panel has given Lois the opportunity to provide districts and teachers with a process to evaluate and ensure all instructional materials are aligned to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards. She has a deep desire to build internal capacity in districts to ensure that students are receiving quality instruction.
Tina Pelletier is a nationally-recognized leader in supporting administrators, staff development specialists, and teachers in developing effective systems of support to increase student achievement PreK-12. After eighteen years as a classroom teacher, reading interventionist, district curriculum leader, Ms. Pelletier became a part of CORE’s instructional service team in 1997. She spent seven years with CORE as part of the early development team creating training materials and supporting the consultant team.
Her recent experience has taken her to over thirty states nationally and four countries internationally to teach, model, and guide staff in using intense data analysis to effectively support students in Tier I, II, and III instruction. She has developed a data analysis process that helps district and schools increase achievement for staff and students.
Ms. Pelletier has served as an independent, international consultant providing practical support to federal and state agencies, administrators, districts, schools, and teachers in the area of Reading/Language Arts using a hands-on approach that is rooted in practical application of essential strategies with ties to data and rigorous attention to increased student achievement. Her areas of expertise include; School Program Improvement, Teacher Development and Training, Administrative Leadership, and Literacy through coaching, workshop, and institute opportunities. She is excited about rejoining the CORE Educational Services Team.
Michelle Ramey is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in education with a reading emphasis from California State University at Sacramento. Mrs. Ramey has taught grades 1, 3, and 5, and she has served as a reading specialist, reading clinician, reading coach, and reading program consultant to administrators, coaches, and teachers in urban and rural districts throughout California. She has also taught postgraduate courses on the teaching of reading.
Mrs. Ramey has developed and instructed numerous trainings and institutes on research-based reading instruction for teachers, reading coaches, and administrators, with a strong emphasis on the significance of good first teaching, addressing the needs of diverse learners, and assessment-based early and tiered intervention. She has extensive experience working with districts with populations of English learners. She has conducted literacy audits for CORE clients and provided classroom-embedded support and trainings in urban and rural schools in Alaska, California, Colorado, Michigan, and Virginia. Her passion for excellence in reading instruction translates to a deep commitment to the success of each and every child learning to read.
Teresa M. Roeder has a long and distinguished history with CORE. She worked as a full-time consultant during CORE’s developmental period, helping to create CORE’s services and products and is presently an Educational Services Consultant. Ms. Roeder returned to her school district, San Ramon Valley in California, where she worked in the Office of Instruction and Assessment, responsible for professional staff development districtwide, curriculum development, and implementation of the K–3 Assessment Plan aligned with a standards-based reporting system; served on the District Assessment Team; was the K-12 District Inclusion Specialist; and most recently assumed a position at the high school level as a teacher of English and a Resource Specialist for students identified as dyslexic for participation in special education. She has served in the capacity of a Teacher Leader, Mentor Teacher, and districtwide new teacher coach and Literacy Specialist, providing professional staff development in general education and special education in grades K–12. Further, Ms. Roeder has served as an instructor in the Reading Certificate Program for the University of California, Berkeley.
Just before returning to CORE, she served as Executive Editor for LeapFrog School House and was a contributing member to a research study involved with the University of London. Ms. Roeder holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Sonoma with an Elementary Credential, a Learning Handicapped and Severely Handicapped Specialist Credential, and resource specialist’s advanced degree.
Debi Shippey is an Educational Services Consultant for CORE. Debi has more than 38 years of experience in public education. She earned both teaching and administrative credentials from Sonoma State University. Her experience includes work as a primary classroom teacher, literacy coach instructor, reading specialist, BTSA support provider, summer school site principal, school site assistant principal, district support coordinator, and reading consultant working the areas of beginning reading development, Response to Intervention, and data analysis.
In addition, Debi has presented and trained teachers in SIPPS (Center for the Collaborative Classroom’s foundational skills program) throughout the state of California. Recently retired from public education, she looks forward to continuing her passion for excellence in teaching reading. Debi is a firm believer that all students can learn to read and that educators do their best until they know better, and when they know better, they do better.
Mona Thompson is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE. She holds a Master Math Teacher Certification for grades 4–8 along with a Secondary Mathematics Certification in the state of Texas. She obtained a master’s degree in education with a focus on curriculum and instruction from Sam Houston State University through a Texas program offered to select high-performing math teachers. Ms. Thompson has 30-plus years of teaching experience, with the last 10 years focused on coaching teachers and writing curriculum to ensure success in algebra. She has witnessed firsthand that empowering teachers with current best practices and providing ongoing support are the keys to improving mathematics instruction and success for more students. Ms. Thompson was also instrumental in developing intensive intervention programs that target at-risk students and assisted teachers to provide custom-designed data-driven lessons to meet the needs of all students. As a member of the leadership team, Ms. Thompson provided professional development for teachers and leaders on lesson design, formative assessments, questioning strategies, curriculum alignment, unpacking the standards, content support, and motivating students. She has mentored new teachers through both college and alternative certification programs. Teaching math is her passion, and her experience with both students and teachers enables her to assist educational leaders to solve the tough problems facing teachers across the nation.
More than 35 years of experience as an educational administrator and classroom teacher serve as the basis for Sharon Ruiz Van Vleck’s work as a CORE Educational Services Consultant. Her primary areas of expertise are research-based reading instruction, leadership support, professional development design and delivery, and school improvement. As a former Research Associate in the Sacramento, California, office of RMC Research Corporation, Ms. Van Vleck provided technical assistance services through the National Reading Technical Assistance Center (NRTAC) to state and local educational agencies on the implementation of Reading First grants and subgrants. Her responsibilities included supporting the implementation of reading programs aligned with scientific reading research, building Reading First grantees’ capacity to use data to guide instructional decision making, and developing instructional tools that augment teacher effectiveness. In addition, Ms. Van Vleck had leadership responsibility for NRTAC projects, including chairing the national professional development session on Advanced Coaching, the development of professional development modules (Meeting the Needs of All Learners, and Advanced Coaching), and as lead for technical assistance in the Western State Cluster.
Prior to joining RMC Research, Ms. Van Vleck served as Director of Training and Development and Director of the Reading First California Technical Assistance Center at the Reading Lions Center in Sacramento. She also previously held administrative positions in the Sacramento City Unified School District, including principal and Director for Elementary Language Arts Curriculum. In addition, Ms. Van Vleck devoted many years to teaching and mentoring teachers in urban elementary schools with a high proportion of English learners.
Ms. Van Vleck earned a bachelor’s degree in art and history from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is credentialed in California for teaching and administration and is certified as a Reading Specialist and Language Development Specialist. Ms. Van Vleck teaches California Reading Language Arts Specialist Credential and California Reading Certificate courses at the University of California Los Angeles Extension and the University of California Davis Extension.
Dr. Susan Van Zant is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum development from Northern Arizona University and a doctorate in education from Alliant University in San Diego, specializing in educational leadership. Dr. Van Zant taught reading prior to her appointment as school principal. As an elementary and middle school principal for 27 years in the Poway Unified School District, she worked with teachers to present well-defined reading and math programs, which led to increasingly high achievement scores. Three of the schools where she was principal were recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools. Dr. Van Zant taught leadership courses for two universities in San Diego. She served as president of the San Diego California Association of School Administrators, was president of California Elementary Principals, and served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals. In recognition for her achievements, Dr. Van Zant was chosen to be a National Distinguished Principal, and she is also a Milken Educator Award recipient.
Dr. Van Zant has served as a CORE Educational Services Specialist since 2002. She works with educators in urban, suburban, and rural, isolated school settings throughout the United States. She served as the District Implementation Advisor for the Anchorage School District in Alaska and the San Bernardino City Unified School District in California. As a site consultant, Dr. Van Zant’s knowledge of core reading and supplementary programs combined with extensive experience working with populations of English learners helps to ensure that student achievement levels improved at the schools she serves. She is the co-author of Words for Academic Writing: Vocabulary Across the Curricula and The Six Minute Solution Plus, programs designed to expand the use and knowledge of academic vocabulary, improve fluency, and reading comprehension skills.
Sara Tellman Veloz’ career in education spans over twenty years. She spent the first twelve years teaching in a large urban school district in Northern California. Equipped with a baccalaureate degree in Child Development, a master’s degree in Education with emphasis in Literacy, a teaching credential specializing in cross cultural education, and additional authorizations in literacy and English language learning, Sara has developed extensive experience teaching in diverse classrooms.
Outside the classroom, Sara has developed experience in curriculum design, professional development, and instructional coaching. In 2003, Sara participated with a team of teachers and curriculum designers in developing a revised edition of a successful reading intervention curriculum. Currently, Sara works nationally and internationally as an independent education consultant and instructional coach. In 2013 and 2014 Sara traveled to northern India to provide not for profit professional development in English acquisition methodology and best practices in reading instruction to Tibetan middle and high school teachers. A joint venture sponsored by the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation, an NGO dedicated to Tibetan Education in exile, and the Tibetan Department of Education, Sara’s work with the English Acquisition Project is expected to continue for several years.
While much of her work remains focused on providing instruction for struggling readers, Sara also consults on effective literacy practices for on-grade-level readers. Additionally, Sara presents and coaches widely on such topics as improving teacher preparedness to teach; maximizing student engagement through sustained Academic Conversations between student partnerships; interpreting student achievement data and implementing effective instructional responses for all levels of student achievement; and delivering effective instruction to English Learners.
Nancy Volpe is a Senior Educational Services Specialist with CORE. She holds a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, with a major in instructional process with a focus on reading. Ms. Volpe has an extensive and varied background, having served as a reading coach, a primary and middle grade teacher, a Title I Math and Reading Specialist, a Reading Recovery instructor, a district workshop facilitator, and a District Literacy Specialist. Ms. Volpe has broad knowledge of core and supplemental reading programs designed for elementary and middle school grades. She has worked as a reading consultant for textbook companies and as an independent reading consultant.
In addition to developing and marketing classroom and task-timing products for classrooms, Ms. Volpe developed her own program to promote reading and writing across the curriculum, which received grant funding. Ms. Volpe has a deep interest in the reading process and strives to help ensure the success of every child learning to read.
Ms. Volpe has served as a CORE Educational Services Specialist since 2008. She has experience presenting CORE professional development workshops and as a site consultant in states from Florida to Alaska. She works with educators in urban, suburban, and Bureau of Indian Education school settings throughout the United States. Her experience and set of skills enable her to assist school staffs in meeting the needs of their population and improving student academic achievement.
Our Team of Experts | CORE
Jill Youngren is an Educational Services Consultant with CORE and District Coordinator for instructional coaches in Mesa County Valley School District #51. She holds a Master of Education degree specializing in reading curriculum and instruction from Lesley University and a principal license from Western State College. Ms. Youngren comes with extensive experience serving as a primary and upper grade teacher, a reading specialist in middle school, a project director for the Colorado Department of Education, an elementary principal, and an instructional leader in reading and assessment at the district level.
Ms. Youngren has provided district professional learning in reading strategies, Response to Instruction and Intervention, professional learning communities, and common assessments for elementary through high school teachers and administrators. Ms. Youngren’s knowledge of the Common Core State Standards and supplemental and core reading programs has enhanced student achievement in the districts she has worked with. Ms. Youngren has also worked with Western State College University in the teacher education department, where she developed and taught online graduate courses in teacher leadership, reading leadership, and principal leadership as well as undergraduate teacher endorsement courses.
Ms. Youngren’s experience in education has impacted the lives of educators in urban, suburban, and rural school settings. She has been a lead consultant in establishing alignment of support programs of language acquisition, learning disabled, gifted and talented, as well as general education. Ms. Youngren’s passion and commitment to education translates to a deep dedication to the success of each and every child learning to read. Her experience and set of skills will serve to enhance the delivery of caring and effective instruction for all educators.